And You're Too Late
by ChocolateChip-Master
Summary: Getting their cover blown and having to sprint full-speed toward the exit of a Galra cruiser was not on the Paladin's list of things to do. But neither was Keith's inability to open his eyes after he was struck in the back of the head. Today was just full of surprises. / Part 12 of my BTHB!


**For the 'trying to wake them up' square on my Bad Things Happen Bingo card! **

**Anon requested: How about trying to wake them up with the whole team in a really bad situation and Keith is in trouble but unconscious or something?**

**This story stemmed a new Galra OC, so thank you for that anon lmao**

**Enjoy!**

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Shiro went through his mental checklist again.

Trapped in a tiny room with four other Paladins and two Alteans? Check.

Galra banging down the doors? Check.

One Paladin out of commission and lying on his side next to Pidge? _Double check._

The doorframe shuddered as another flurry of fists pounded upon it. Shiro flicked his gaze over to the unconscious boy, his head resting in Pidge's armored lap.

Keith had been hit _hard _on the back of the head as they were running for shelter. He'd collapsed almost instantly, forehead smashing against the floor with a sickening _crack. _

He hadn't gotten back up.

Shiro sucked in a deep breath through his nose. His back was placed firmly against the door to prevent the Galra from getting any leeway while they tried to figure out what to do. Hunk and Allura were helping him, too, Hunk with both hands on the doorknob and Allura next to him with her feet planted firmly on the floor and her hands pressed firmly to the door.

"Keith," Pidge said frantically. Coran knelt next to her, brushing Keith's hair away from his face so he could feel Keith's forehead. "Keith, _ open your damn eyes." _

Lance, who had his bayard out and aimed at the door, glanced at their downed friend. "He's not waking up?"

"No," Pidge said. Her voice was tight.

"The back of his head is bleeding," Coran said, turning Keith over. A thin smearing of red had gotten into his hair from his head wound. Strands were fusing themselves together from the sticky blood. "It's safe to assume that he will have a concussion upon awakening."

Lance swore in Spanish. He thumbed the trigger of his sniper rifle, narrowing his eyes at the door. The hinges shuddered as a Galra thudded against it. They'd likely thrown their entire body weight on it.

"This is _not _good," Allura said, grunting as the doorknob Hunk was trying to keep at bay smashed into her back. "This door will not hold forever. If Keith does not awaken-"

"He will," Shiro said firmly. He looked down at Keith, tried not to think about the blood - or the fact that he looked so _pale _\- and decided to believe in him. It was the one thing he'd promised Keith all those years ago, and he wouldn't break it now. "Keith has never failed us before. He's always, _always _pulled through for us."

"I don't know if you have _eyes _right now, Shiro," Pidge snapped. "But this looks pretty _fucking _bad to me!"

Shiro didn't reprimand her as he knew he should have. Pidge was just stressed. They all were. They needed all their strength to fight the Galra currently pounding the door down and since they were one Paladin short, it decreased their odds significantly.

Shiro grunted as the door lurched forward. Something splintered loudly (Shiro would later realize it was the door hinge) and Shiro pressed his back more firmly against it.

"Keith, _please," _Pidge said, her voice borderline desperate. "Wake _up."_

Keith didn't even so much as _twitch._

The door splintered again. This time, a fist punched its way through, in-between Shiro and Allura's faces. They both exchanged horrified looks as purple blood began seeping in between their Galra attacker's knuckles. There was a blue arc of light and the Galra withdrew their hand, roaring in pain as it was blown off.

Lance looked up from the smoking barrel of his gun. His hands were trembling.

"Got him," was all he said.

Shiro gave him a grateful smile. He thought his heart might burst, his back tense against the wall. He'd have a hell of an ache there tomorrow, but he couldn't find it in himself to care much.

This was so, _so _bad.

"Keith!" Pidge hissed again. Coran was now gently slapping both of his cheeks in an attempt to bring him back to the waking world. Keith didn't flinch, didn't move, didn't even make a noise. Shiro's heart squeezed at the sight. He'd always hated seeing Keith in pain, but seeing him so _unresponsive _was probably even worse.

The door shuddered at Shiro's back. It shot forwards, the doorknob hitting Hunk square in the nose. Hunk let out an alarmed shout, tumbling backward. Lance shouted his name as Hunk lifted his head, disoriented. His nose was bleeding.

Allura and Shiro had time to exchange looks again before the door shuddered and was kicked off of its hinges.

They let out undignified cries of alarm as the door fell on top of them, pinning them to the ground. Shiro's jaw crashed to the floor first, the impact jarring the helmet from off of his head. It bounced off the wall and nearly ricocheted into Coran's face.

Shiro groaned in pain, blinking dust and stars out of his eyes. He heard Lance shout followed by a pained grunt as someone hit the floor. Shiro's heart twisted in his chest. He lifted himself on his forearms, blood roaring in his ears. All too soon, though, his teeth clicked against the floor as someone placed their boot down on his head faster than he could process. Copper exploded in Shiro's mouth.

He managed to twist his head, his hair pulling painfully under the boot keeping him pinned, and glared firmly up at the Galra keeping him down. His right hand was smoking, purple blood rolling in rivulets off of his clenched knuckles.

Allura let out a similar cry as another Galra entered the room, walking on top of the door over their bodies. Her eyes swept around the small room and her lips turned up in a fanged grin.

"Oh now _interesting," _she purred.

Shiro turned his head again to look at his teammates. Lance was lying on the ground, thrashing as several Galra soldiers attempted to restrain him. Coran was pinned against the walls, his hands in the process of getting cuffed. Shiro felt sick at the sight. It got worse a moment later.

A high-pitched scream that could only belong to their littlest Paladin, crying out in alarm.

"Keith! _Don't you touch him!" _This was followed by a loud cry and Pidge dropped to the floor, blood seeping from a head wound.

Heart pounding, Shiro lifted his eyes.

One of the soldiers had Keith in the air by his neck. Dangling; helpless.

"K-Keith…" Shiro choked. Blood was clogging up his airway. It was making it hard to breathe.

The situation would have been far better if Keith was struggling. Thrashing, with his arms and legs flailing. But he _wasn't. _Keith was silent. Still. It scared Shiro more than anything else.

The leader stepped forward, heels clicking on the ground. She approached Keith who dangled silently from her lackey's grip. She traced her finger under his chin, lifting it and inspecting him.

"This is just _perfect," _she said. Her nails dug grooves into Keith's skin, drawing blood from the tiny pinpricks.

"Keith, _please," _Shiro said breathlessly. "Wake up…"

Keith did not stir.

The Galra was now pulling Keith's neck to one side. Blood was running down his chin, sinking under his armor and getting into his flight suit. She wiped up part of the trail and inspected it, a smirk curling around his lips.

"You get away from him!" Lance snarled. "_¡No lo toques!_ _¡Puta!"_

The Galra raised an eyebrow at Lance, unimpressed. She waved her hand and the nearest soldier's fists curled into Lance's hair. They pulled it back, his neck twisting strangely, and smashed his face into the ground. Lance screamed.

"_ Lance!" _Hunk shrieked, trying to shuffle across the floor with a Galra holding him down. Pidge let out a furious splutter on the floor. Allura and Shiro struggled under the weight of the broken door.

"Keith-" Shiro breathed. He knew the angle by which Keith was hanging was not good for him. For all he knew, the soldier holding him up was cutting off his airway, slowly strangling him. Keith could be dying of asphyxiation and they would be none the wiser. Shiro hated the thought, hated the way it made the back of his neck prickle. "Keith, _open your eyes."_

His plea went unanswered.

Allura was now heaving herself onto her forearms. She was trying to move, to twist herself to use her inhuman strength to heave the door off of them, but she couldn't quite get herself at a proper angle. She only hissed in pain and had to abandon her efforts for now.

Shiro began to realize slowly, with the adrenaline wearing off, that his leg _hurt. _It felt twisted, like his entire knee had been popped out of its socket and twisted entirely around.

It felt _broken._

Tears stung his eyes and he bit down savagely on his lip.

Hunk was struggling from the stream of blood slithering from his nose and between his lips. Lance was biting at the Galra keeping him down, blood streaming from his own nose. Pidge was trying to bash her own captive in the face while Coran flailed wildly a few feet away.

Keith remained limp in the soldier's grip, his face bleeding from tiny cuts in his cheeks. The Galra inspecting him turned her ruthless eyes to Shiro.

"Do you care for him?" She said. She took Shiro's silence as an answer. Her yellow eyes _gleamed. _"How _precious. _The Paladins of Voltron forming attachments to each other. But they are just a group of pitiful humans… a team made to be _broken."_

She snapped Keith's neck roughly to the side. Shiro heard a few bones pop out of place.

Then…

Then, Keith groaned.

It was a sickening kind of relief that flooded Shiro then. The kind that he felt guilty for feeling, but he couldn't help it.

Keith was _alive._

He was in _pain._

Those were good signs, as horrifying as they were.

"Keith," Shiro tried dragging himself forward. The weight of the door pulled on his broken leg, tucking it into place. Shiro let out a cry, bowing his head and curling his hands into fists. He couldn't move. His leg felt detached - like if he moved any further then it _would _pop off of his body.

Keith let out another breathless groan. The Galra leader was now watching him with a sick sort of interest.

Shiro looked up. He knew Keith had a tendency to lash out if he was somewhere unfamiliar if he felt _unsafe. _It was something he'd picked up in the foster system and it hadn't quite faded away over the years. It felt wronger still, but right now, Shiro was relying on that instinct more than ever.

"Keith," Shiro said, his voice barely above a breathless whisper. "_ Open your eyes."_

As if summoned by Shiro's call, Keith's amethyst eyes snapped open. He hardly even drank in the situation before bursting into action. He thrashed, bayard appearing in his hand, and he sliced it in a wide arc.

There were two roars of pain - one higher than the other - and Keith was dropped to the ground. He sat there for a moment, pupils dilated and his breathing heavy and raspy. Behind him, the soldier who had his throat, was writhing on the ground. His arm had been sliced clean off. The Galra commander had been treated to something similar, a slice so deep in her shoulder Shiro could see bone and muscle under all the pouring blood.

Keith met Shiro's eyes.

The room exploded into action.

Lance was up first with a war-cry and smashed the Galra holding him down against the wall. Dazed, the Galra released him and Lance scooped up his fallen bayard to shoot the Galra between the eyes. Pidge finally sank her teeth into her surprised captor's skin and he roared, trying to shake her off. Pidge clung on faithfully until he finally let go, smashing her into the wall. She hardly seemed shaken as she summoned her katar and dug it into the Galran's neck.

Hunk was in the middle of a full-on wrestling match with his own Galra and appeared to be winning. One arm was wrung around their massive neck, forcing them into the realm of unconsciousness. Hunk's face was pink with exertion as Coran head-bonked the Galra who'd cuffed his hand into oblivion.

Allura gritted her teeth, twisting around again. Her hipped popped and she let out a quiet cry of pain, but ignored it, heaving her arms under the door and pushing up. Shiro did the same, ignoring the agony of his leg, and placed both hands under the door, pushing up. His prosthetic creaked, the door heavier than anything Shiro had ever lifted in his entire life. But, with his and Allura's combined strength, they managed to throw it off of them. It crashed into the Galra leader's head, who was just recovering from the wound Keith had dealt.

Then, there was silence.

Everyone was panting, either holding their bayards or a piece of the Galra they'd just overwhelmed.

Shiro looked down at his leg. His throat tightened, his lunch practically clawing its way out of his stomach. It was twisted in a way it was _not _supposed to go, the kneecap where he _should _have been bending his knee. It had turned entirely backward. Allura's hip did not fare much better, having shifted to the right. She could not sit or stand and had resorted herself to dragging, pulling herself toward Coran.

Shiro looked back at Keith, the image of his horribly broken leg burned into his mind. Keith stared back, purple eyes blown wide and his breathing fast and labored.

"Shiro…" He said weakly. His voice was raspier than normal. "Shiro, _what-"_

"You did good, buddy," Shiro said. He tried to give Keith a reassuring smile, to let him know everything was okay now, but it probably came off as more of a painful grimace. "Let's get out of here; come and help me up."

Keith - breathless and confused, knowing he'd get an explanation for _what the fuck just happened _later - nodded and rose to his feet. He stumbled slightly and held out a hand for Shiro.

Shiro took it and Keith hefted him to his feet. He teetered, unable to stand on his leg, but looked down at Keith fondly. He knew that he'd have a lot to explain, but he was proud. Keith had pulled through for them.

As he always did.

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**FOR SOME REASON, THE XENOBLADE CHRONICLES OST IS REALLY GOOD TO WRITE TO? **

**WHAT ARE THE ODDS**

**Anyways, another square done! I'm was really excited for this one, just because I haven't really written a 'trying to wake them up' scenario. I debated killing off Keith in the very beginning, just for some extra angst, but I didn't. You're welcome :p **

**To the lovely anon who requested this: I hope this was in line with your expectations! It was a blast to write and your prompt really helped this go places. Thank you so much! **

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this!**


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